Realty One

Friday, June 23, 2017

ALOUETTES 17 ROUGHRIDERS 16

MONTREAL - Darian Durant played down the revenge factor in the week leading up to facing his old team but, when the game was over, the veteran quarterback admitted it felt good to win.

It took an intervention from what Durant called the "football gods,'' but the 34-year-old who no longer felt wanted when Saskatchewan traded him to Montreal in January came out the winner as the Alouettes topped the Roughriders 17-16 in the CFL season opener on Thursday night.The Roughriders had a chance to win it on the final play of the game but Tyler Crapigna, who had put three boots through the uprights with confidence, missed from the 45 wide to the right with the game on the line."We know the history I had there,'' said Durant, who spent his first 11 seasons with Saskatchewan. "We know how it ended."I feel like the football gods always come through when they need to. When things go wrong or don't go the way they're supposed to, the football gods come in. And I think that's what happened tonight.''

Durant may have known his time in Regina was coming to an end last winter when second-year coach and general manager Chris Jones said his quarterback had been only "moderately'' successful and appeared disinterested in signing him to a new contract. He was dealt for a pair of draft picks to Montreal, where he signed a three-year deal.The Alouettes hope Durant will give them stability at a position that has been a weak spot the last three seasons. It wasn't his best game, but he went 20 for 31 with no interceptions and threw touchdown passes to B.J.Cunningham and Ernest Jackson."I think we did a pretty good job,'' said Durant. `"We left a lot of yards and a lot of plays out there, whether it was me missing throws, or penalties. Just not being on the same page. We have the potential to be a very good offence if we can put it all together.''Kevin Glenn, back with the Roughriders after starting last season with Montreal, completed 31-of-44 passes, including one interception and a TD toss to Bakari Grant. The 38-year-old led a final drive into field-goal range, but it wasn't enough."When you take 21 penalties and you have three turnovers it's tough to beat anybody,'' said Jones.When asked about Crapigna's miss, he said: `"Tyler's a good kicker. He's an 85-something per cent kicker in his career. Certainly we felt we were in decent range to put the ball through.''

Boris Bede's fourth-quarter field goal stood up as the game-winning points for Montreal.Durant marched the ball to the Saskatchewan 37 on the opening drive, but Bede missed the 45-yard field-goal attempt.Neither side was able to mount much on attack until 10:25 of the second quarter, when Cunningham got behind safety Mike Edem for a 65-yard touchdown reception.Glenn hit right back with a 10-play drive capped by a 19-yard TD pass to Grant at 13:27, a play that stood up to video review when Grant was stripped of the ball just past the goal line.A shanked Bede punt gave the Roughriders another chance and, aided by a 33-yard strike to Nic Demski, Crapigna was good from 35 yards for a 10-7 halftime lead.A 27-yard run up the middle by Cameron Marshall on the opening play from scrimmage in the second half helped set up Crapigna's 40-yard field goal at 3:27.Montreal answered with an eight-play drive that saw Jackson make a 12-yard TD catch in the end zone at 7:07.

The end of the third and start of the fourth quarter saw three straight possessions end with turnovers - a fumble by Marshall, a Jonathon Mincy interception and a Nik Lewis fumble. None produced points.An 18-yard Crapigna boot at 8:04 put the Riders ahead, only to have Bede match it with his own 18-yard kick at 12:31.Alouettes defensive back Travis Hawkins was injured on the first play of the second half and did not return. Saskatchewan kick returner Ricky Collins also left early with a suspected shoulder injury.

115 comments:

Anonymous
said...

From the CFL rulebook: A ball shall be considered to have been fumbled if the player last in possession has lost control of it.

So, they determined he was still in possession of the ball when the ball broke the plane of the goal line. The replay clearly showed he wasn't. Break for the Riders, awful start to the season by the replay booth.

I'm happy for Darian and as I said the Alouettes are my 1A team behind the Riders. - The Honky Tonk Man will not be here much longer if they don't go on a serious run here. The fans run the show and they are going to shake rattle and roll him right out of here.

If we can't beat Mtl , I am not sure who we will be able to beat??? Terrible for Glenn to march them down and then put Bridge to try to score a TD. I suppose Jones was scared of yet another turnover. Undisciplined play,no pass rush ,turnovers caused this loss.

Glenn outplayed Durant.Montreal defence won the game not Durant.Classy Durant credited the football gods with the way the game ended. DD taunting the Rider bench! We'll see what the football gods have in store for DD.

Glenn played well, the whole team played well and I mean by playing well they played well enough to win this game and with a couple of breaks they would have. Stats show that they outplayed Montreal except for a couple of bad breaks and decisions. Looked a hell of a lot better than Pre Season games and I think they will show up much better this year.

When I look at the roster from last year game one to this year, we are a much better team tonight then last year. Good receivers, running back look okay. Much deeper with Canadian talent. We need to get some pressure on the quarterback but overall just disappointing losing to Durant. Not going to blame the coaching tonight he had reason for having Bridge in there for a bit. Durant did okay but nothing special to be earning the big bucks.

The 3 man rush makes me shake my head. Noticed MTL constantly rushed at least 4 or 5. Did Richie Hall leave his no blitz, no pressure let them catch the ball then try to tackle them D-playbook behind? Durant didn't play outstanding. He looked better because there was no pass rush and he had time to look at a variety of his receivers. Wait until he faces a real D next week.

When will people get off CJ'S BUTT???They want to run him out of town right now. Please tell us who they would get for HC!!!!!!!Every coach makes mistakes. But the coaches don't take the penalties on the field that kills Offence plays or D penalties that allow the enemy's offence to continue on.DD is gone from here. Move on. If he was in Glenn's place tonight he would have been SACKED about 8 times , with the way Montreal blitzed . At least Glenn can read a blitz.All the nay Sayers about CJ should show us their coaching credentials.Clay

Durant once again showed he is classless….and selfish!He didn't win the game. Crapigna lost the game….and he's done it before.A FG from between the uprights was too difficult? Good kickers make that kick.Our kicking game found a way to lose the game rather than win the game.A FG should have been made and we are 1-0. This loss isn't on Jones!It's squarely on Crapigna..so lets put the pile of crap where it belongs. The trolls don't seem to want to do that.

1. Were Durant's comments bright? no! however, his reaction was not directed at the riders or the fans so relax, along with everyone on riderfans bashing Durant, it was directed at one person. Anyone that believed this game didn't mean more regardless of comments leading up to the game is naive.

2. We have beloved figures in rider history that weren't always classy, fact, get over it, that's the case with every team, these guys don't get to the pros by being un-emotional, not having pride, not having a competitive edge, and not taking things personally once in awhile. sometimes things happen in the heat of the moment, that in retrospect, the individual would like to have back.

3. why isn't everyone on Duron's case, from what I could see his body language wasn't great, appeared to be pouting, or is it okay for him to not be the best of citizens 100% of the time because he wears green now? double standard perhaps, kind of like hockey, the Marchand's of the world we hate, but love them when they are on our team?

4. Jones has said all along it's about W-L, one of reasons why Durant was let go, why VY was brought in because of his NFL W-L record, at the end of the day regardless of how the game went, stats, etc. Durant and the Als won. Get over it!

5. No different than how many games especially playoffs and the bigger games, 7 - 10 years ago, when the Riders seemed to have the Stamps and Jones D number. It didn't matter the Stamps had the better team on paper, a few plays went our way and we would upset them! no different tonight, just in the Als favour like '09 and '10.

Jones has done something that nobody else could accomplish. Not John Hufnagel, not Marc Trestman, not Wally Buono, no one else could split the 'Rider Nation' but Jones has done it. Half the Nation wants him canned and the other half blindly defend him.

Darian Durant was moderately successful the last couple years and injury prone. a lesser salary based on performance was not unreasonable. Time to quit blaming Chris Jones for speaking the truth. In my opinion Darian was coasting on his past performances and the Grey Cup win. Less than stellar the last few years.

Ive never waivered from loving the Riders over the last few decades. That's changing now. I'll always support the team, but I love Darian Durant. Ill be in my seats at the new stadium for years to come BTW, politely clapping.

The bedlam that Rider fans used to create at taylor field...guess what, its earned - not given for free.

Remember when the Riders won 5 games last year? Remember when Crapigna kicked last second, game winning FGs in 3 of those games...including a game where he was 6 for 7? No? Ok, go back to complaining about a non existent problem.

We started slow, but got into the game. The team played well enough to win, however, when the coach makes decisions like he did tonight, that opportunity to be successful is really limited. The call to bring our rookie QB into the game was one very, very poor decision. The ball control in the last 2 minutes was a joke. I really don't have the confidence in our coach. His disposition is not very positive. His language along the field is not appealing. If you remember last year when playing Edmonton; he decided to gamble instead getting a tie and go into Overtime. He is not the guy he is made out to be. Here we go again, the same blunders are on their way

Good game. Rides look like they have improved in all areas except one...qb.Tough to win in montreal. Happy for doubles and feel bad for crapigna. Nice to see labatte play well. The rebild looks to be on track. GO RIDERS!

Yes...it was mediocre at best. Moderate yardage and skipped a pass off the shoe laces of a wide open receiver with three minutes left that would have went for a sure touchdown and sealed the win for Montreal. Mediocre yardage numbers skewed by on big play on the first touchdown...typical Durant and we got used to as the norm here in Saskatchewan. So yes he was "moderately successful" at best Riders handed the Alouettes that game.

The guy couldn't read a blitz to save his soul. It was refreshing having a QB in last night that made that read and dumped it off quickly to an open receiver. Durant would have been sacked 5 times. Good QBs make mediocre teams good. He couldn't do that.

Good entertaining game, Riders only had 3 days to prepare after cutdown, Glen looked real good, quick accurate passer, needs help from his receivers though in 1st quarter. Demski looked excellent, got to keep that kid in.Cut down on penalties and we have a real good team. Too bad we didnt have more qback rush pressure. Maybe Montreal oline was that good.

Our in ability to finish footballs is gonna kill us again. The biggest thing I don't like about this game is although we are slightly better we have a lot of the same issues as last year. Dropping balls, bad penalties, defense unable to keep their hands on the ball for turnovers, lack of a return game etc... On the plus side our Dline and Oline are looking a lot better just everyone else needs to get their sh*t together.

On CKRM 620 does anyone else think Luc sounded like Barack Obama calling a football game.

AnywayNo pressure from the D line,head scratching play calling from OC McAdoo again!and the penalty problems make for a tough night.If our kicker made this kick and we won,I would be saying the same thing.

Power went out in west Regina for the last couple minutes of the second Q and all of the third Q,went and listened to 620 out in the car.

What I saw last night was an experienced team barely hang on to win against a young team. I did not see a single mistake made by the riders last night that is not correctable with teaching/coaching. The secondary played better then I expected. Running game looks good. Little disapointed in the drops by the receivers. MTL DB's played well.

Too many mistakes by both players and coaches. Pulling Glenn in the red zone was stupid. Screwing away 25 seconds to make it an easy game winning field goal is inexcusable. All of our turnovers were very avoidable too. This team is close. But please get there soon. I just can't stand the losing anymore.

The so called fans cheering against the Riders out of spite, man working or living with you must be awful. You are sad and pathetic. That's why people don't really care what you say. Must be a terrible way to live.

I can't answer for him, but i'm a rider fan who now cheers against them when dressler chick or durant are playing against them. Jones gutted the team and got rid of three franchise players who are still producing and will be for a few more years. Not happy about any of them, but getting rid of dressler and the handling of it really bothered me. They guy gave up close to $200,000 to sign with us for the remainder of the one season and to sign a 4 year contract at the end of that season, and if that wasnt a slap in the face someone at head office post a pic saying "must be this tall to ride", completely classless. They've been fined over $100,000 since he got here which barely 20 years ago would have bankrupted the team. He has no respect for the organization or its history and needs to go, so if another 3 win season is what it takes for that to happen i guess so be it

Makes me laugh all the idiots that cheered for Montreal because they don't like Jones. Stay away from home games and move to Montreal, looks like they could've used a few more seats in the stands anyway.

Just read on Twitter someone's comment that they felt good about the riders even though they lost. I agree totally. There is something about the three games so far that makes me want to see more of this team. All the mistakes made are correctable and fans need to have some respect for the players and coaches, they will correct them. Things will run smoother with every game that goes by. Pumped to watch the season home opener in the new stadium!

Its a better team than last year. Tyree Hollins is young and good, better to keep him than have to get a Jovon Johnson who is old. Same goes for Dressler who is far superior to Grant. Or Chick who is still a force. And DD is better than Glenn. Jones' weakness are more as a GM than a coach. he has brought in some good athletes though. and its not his fault we traded Messam for Crapigna. You could have Waters kicking and won. So lots of bonehead personnel decisions.

Darian Durant won't hoist another Grey Cup until his attitude changes. To say the Football Gods affected a team sport because his coach wasn't very nice to him? That is the kind of stuff the Football Gods aren't down with. Watch for DD to suffer another season ending injury by week 9 or get pulled altogether.

The statement, "Montreal didn't win the game, the Riders lost it" is really senseless. The fact is, Montreal won the game AND the Riders lost it. Football will always be a team game and ONE play never makes the difference. In fact, the last second field goal try would have been irrelevant if the fumble on the goal line would have been called correctly. The "what if" game never ends. Players know that the "W" or the "L" is all that really counts.

I'm sorry but fans in SK love and identify with players, that's why they buy jerseys. Those happy fans ARE still Rider fans, just not Jones' fans. DD was a "lifelong" Rider and that's what HE wanted.I find it interesting that in all of the recent Rider promo videos you no longer see clear faces, just images with no one really identifiable. That's because when they were trying to promote new "faces" they were shipped out. One example is Shawn Lemon. He was featured, people bought jerseys, and he was surprisingly released. I'd love to see the recent year-over-year jersey sale numbers. I'm sure they've dropped dramatically.

Its not out of spite. Its out of pure dislike for Jones and how he manages this team. Im willing to have my mind changed, and will support the team in general. However, I much prefer to see Darian succeed over Jones.

Riderville is already up in arms fighting amongst each other just like Carter mixing it up verbally late in the game with teammates on the sidelines. What? Nine targets not enough for you, Duron? Try catching more than 2 for 12 yards. Try outplaying a DB 7" shorter than you. Bad coaching didn't help.

What kind of"Fan" cheers against his own team? Football is a team sport not an individual one. What about all the players and coaches who are trying their best to win? Making hard decisions to help the team move forward. Maybe its time to sit back an appreciate the Rider organisation not whine about players who are no longer with the team and who now wear different colours and have moved on.

The Riders gave Danny Barrett-Roy (give me the) Shivers 7 LONG YEARS to turn the team around before they were let go. We are now one game into the second season and some are crying for a coaching change. Get real. He's not getting fired anytime soon.

Anyone making fun of our kicker's name should get a life and grow up. I work in an elementary school and yes, it is childish, very childish to make fun of someone's name. Grow up.

The video replay did get the touchdown-fumble call correct. Video replay has to CLEARLY SHOW the call on the field. Any ambiguity whatsoever means the call on the field stands.

I see great progress in the team's rebuild. I am optimistic we can win 10 games as Matt Dunigan predicted.

Very disappointed in 1) clock management in the last minute, 2) DD's sour grapes and ridiculous "I just won a million dollars' celebration and taunting the bench after saying he was over the trade, and 3) Rider fans who bash the team.

Darian could have signed a contract and stayed had he so-wished. His endorsement deals on the side would have made up the difference in salary.

Handy Andy you are so out to lunch on some of your comments .The biggest one is the replay CLEARLY shows the ball was out BEFORE he crossed the line.I am so happy that Darian won this game.Riders will be lucky to win 6 games this year BOOK IT!

SK football is about a lot more than Ws. We older fans have been through a lot over the years but never quit. For years we were poor little Saskatchewan. Never had the money to buy big talent or cheat on having a few 'taxi drivers' in town. But we supported 'our boys' no matter what. So we get a QB who wants to be here, takes us to 3 Cups and wins one at home. Our previous cup winning QB and coach couldn't wait to get out of here. So cut us some slack if we want DD to do well and if it wasn't handled with the respect he deserved. He was the face of this team. Those who want to diss him should all name a Rider QB they felt did more for the Riders in their lifetime as a fan. (Yes ... we will get over it)

Riders will be lucky to win 8 games this year. So if they had to lose ugly, it might as well been this game. On the flip side nice to see DD rub this in Jones face after the way he was let go. After Jones poor time management on last drive and pulling Glenn out of the game on that scoring drive I would call these decisions "moderately successful" at best. Looks good on him.

I am really amped over the Riders' defense. A memorable play was a defender knocking the ball out of Nik Lewis' hands ( he never fumbles). Glenn was efficient for the most part; the running game shows promise, and special teams will prove to be a positive in the long haul. Lots of good things came our of this game. Remember, this is Kavis Reed's big bad Als that barely squeeked it out. Playoffs for sure and I think, with good health, the Riders can come away with eleven wins

Not so simple glen. There was dozens of missed plays by the riders before that last kick. Carter had butter fingers and those pre snap penaties still killing us. Lots to like though. The team overall is much better than what i saw last year.